1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a support pillow that can be worn around the waist to, for example, aid in supporting a baby during nursing, provide support of the forearms while typing on a keyboard, or provide support for the forearms or external objects while engaging in an activity such as reading, television watching or eating. In particular, the invention relates to such a support pillow that provides lumbar support and cushioning of the back, is adjustable to fit people of various sizes or fit a particular person with a varying degree of tightness, and attaches to a wearer so that the pillow remains securely and stably in place when the wearer moves between a sitting and standing position or walks around.
2. Related Art
Breast feeding an infant provides benefits to both the infant and the nursing mother. The mother's milk contains substances that the infant needs to develop a healthy resistance to sickness and disease, as well as a naturally balanced diet of fats and proteins that the infant needs for healthy physical development. The nursing process itself provides a time for mothers to bond with their children, thereby enhancing the emotional well-being of both the infant and the mother. Nursing also benefits the mother by stimulating the pituitary glands to release oxytocin which causes the uterus to stop bleeding and begin to contract.
Feeding a baby, whether by nursing or bottle-feeding, necessitates that the feeder support the infant, usually at a level near the waist or chest. In a typical position for holding a baby while feeding, the feeder's head is bent forward to look at the infant. The shoulders are hunched forward. The arm muscles and anterior chest muscles contract to support the infant. The specific muscles involved in this postural stress position are the trapezius, pectoralis, levator scapulae, rhomboids, deltoids, rotator cuff group (to a lesser degree), erector sinae (from the mid-back to the base of the skull), and the splenius group (in the neck). Overcontraction of these muscles puts extra stress on the spinal vertebrae to which the muscles are attached, and can lead to spinal misalignments (subluxations). Additionally, prolonged muscular contraction in this position (i.e., head forward, shoulders rounded and upper back bent forward) places extra stress on the corresponding muscle tendons which, if experienced frequently over a period of time, can lead to tendinitis, as well as to a generalized inflammation of the soft tissue called myofibrositis or myofascitis. More generally, the muscle stress arising from holding a baby during feeding often results in headache and/or muscle pain felt in the neck, shoulders, back, arms and/or wrists. Even if the muscle stress does not produce a degenerative physical condition, the physical discomfort may cause the feeder to support the baby in an awkward position that prevents the baby from feeding properly.
For several reasons, the above-described muscle stress is particularly distressing for a nursing mother. Since a mother may nurse up to 15 times per day, the mother is faced with the prospect of frequently experiencing the muscle stress associated with supporting the baby during nursing. Further, for a period of time after birth, the mother's body is recovering from the stress of the birth and can endure physical exertion to a lesser extent than would otherwise be normal. Finally, the care of a newborn infant typically leaves little time for sleep; without sleep, the mother becomes exhausted and more susceptible to muscle fatigue. These problems are exacerbated by the fact that the mother must of necessity physically exert herself many times a day to pick up and put down the baby.
Various devices, such as pillows, have been used to help alleviate the muscle stress typically experienced during feeding of a baby. A recent National Institute of Health study on breast feeding, conducted by the University of Wyoming, concluded that the use of a pillow as an aid in nursing increased the length of feeding time during nursing. A longer nursing time produces the previously described benefits of nursing to a greater degree. However, each of the previous pillows used as an aid in nursing is deficient in one or more important respects.
The prior pillows generally do not provide adequate support. For instance, while some of the prior pillows support the baby and others support the arms of the feeder, none provide adequate support of both the baby and the feeder's arms, while simultaneously supporting the feeder's back. Additionally, none of the known prior pillows cushion the back of the feeder or provide back lumbar support for the feeder. Such support characteristics are highly desirable to alleviate the muscle stress experienced by the back while supporting a baby.
Further, the existing pillows typically do not attach to the feeder's body. Thus, these pillows are usually positioned in a relatively unstable manner, requiring some balancing of the pillow by the feeder, a feat which is particularly difficult while simultaneously holding a baby (and, in the case of bottle feeding, a bottle). Additionally, none of the prior pillows remain in position if the feeder gets up from a sitting position to walk around between feedings. Consequently, the pillow must be set aside (frequently, on the floor) when the feeder stands up after feeding and picked up when the feeder sits down to feed again, thereby necessitating that the feeder engage in a lot of bending and stretching (particularly when the pillow is placed on or picked up from the floor) to transfer the pillow to and from the lap. Such exertion is an especially onerous burden for a nursing mother, even more so during the period when the mother's body is recovering from birth. Given that the mother must already engage in a lot of such bending and stretching while picking up and putting down the baby, reduction or elimination of additional such bending and stretching would be very beneficial to the mother.
Many previous pillows for support during baby feeding cannot be easily used for both right breast and left breast feeding. In order for the baby to switch feeding from one breast to another, the pillow must be repositioned (e.g., flipped over or turned around), a cumbersome task that itself induces undue muscle stress.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,134, issued to Matthews on Nov. 16, 1993, describes a portable pillow for support of an infant, toddler or young child in situations other than feeding. When an infant's body is placed in a well centrally formed in the pillow, the infant's head is supported by a central portion of the pillow and the feet extend out between tapered ends of the pillow. The patent does not describe wearing the pillow about the waist to support a baby during feeding. If the pillow were to be used in that way, the pillow would suffer from several disadvantages.
For example, the pillow does not completely encircle the waist of the feeder, reducing the amount of support provided by the pillow and lessening the stability and security with which the pillow attaches to the body. In particular, if worn so that the largest support area of the pillow is positioned adjacent to the stomach of the wearer, the pillow has a discontinuous, relatively insubstantial portion positioned behind the back that fails to provide back lumbar support or cushion the back. In addition, there is no mechanism for tightening the fit of the pillow about the waist; consequently, the pillow fits loosely and therefore does not provide substantial support for the wearer's back or waist. The pillow also can not be adjusted to vary the fit of the pillow about the waist. This lack of adjustability hampers the degree to which the pillow can be securely and stably positioned on the feeder, provide a custom fit for each wearer of the pillow, and provide a variable amount of support to the body of the feeder. Since the pillow does not attach securely and stably to the body, the pillow may not remain in place on the body if the feeder gets up from a sitting position to walk around between feedings. Thus, the feeder must exert unnecessary effort to set the pillow aside after feeding and pick up the pillow before feeding, resulting in undue muscle strain. The pillow also does not include an elevated portion (such as a feeding elevation wedge) to support the baby at an angle to enable the baby to feed more easily and enhance the digestive process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,154,649, issued to Pender on Oct. 13, 1992, describes an inflatable nursing pillow having multiple air chambers which provide adjustability of air pressure and customized support for a child during bottle and breast-feeding. Though this patent shows that a removable belt can be provided to secure the pillow around a feeder's lower torso, this strap does not provide any lumbar support for the back. Further, the belt does not cushion the back when sitting against a hard surface during feeding. Additionally, the belt does not stably attach the pillow to the body. Consequently, the pillow does not remain in a support position and flops around if the feeder gets up from a sitting position to walk around between feedings. Moreover, none of the surfaces of the pillow are shaped to provide an elevated portion to support the baby at an angle to enable the baby to feed more easily and enhance the digestive process.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,092,005, issued to Byrn on Mar. 3, 1992, describes an inflatable pillow for use during feeding of a baby. The pillow described in this patent does not provide back support or cushioning. Further, there is nothing at all to hold the pillow in place when the feeder moves around, not even a flimsy belt as described in the Pender patent. Also like the Pender patent, none of the surfaces of the pillow are shaped to provide an elevated portion to support the baby at an angle to enable the baby to feed more easily and enhance the digestive process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,890, issued to Roberts on Mar. 22, 1988, describes a pillow adapted for use by nursing mothers. U.S. Pat. No. 5,109,557, issued to Koy et al. on May 5, 1992, describes a pillow for use by a mother or some other person to aid in feeding an infant. The pillows described in these patents suffer from the same problems as described above for the pillow described in the Byrn patent.
Each of the prior pillows for use as an aid in feeding a baby has one or more deficiencies that make the pillow flawed when used for that purpose. A support pillow that simultaneously addresses all of the above-noted deficiencies would be a vast improvement over the existing pillows. Further, the improved support pillow would be even more useful if it had more general application and could be used for a variety of situations requiring a support surface proximal to the body of a user.